10, July 1898 (+120)
To: The ladies and gentlemen of the GAF at large
Copies to: (Bvt.) Major General U. S. Scout (Ret.),
(Bvt.) Col. Drydock Chief of Staff,
(Bvt. ) Col. Dusty Tagalon Adjutant ,
Ladies and Gentlemen:
I have the honor to submit my report following the 2018 Grand Muster of the Grand Army of the Frontier
By Monday afternoon I had completed the mowing and most of my other preparations Tuesday Silver Creek Slim and Micah and I traveled to nearby Ord to retrieve the targets. By Afternoon most of the rest of the staff had arrived and we finished placing the targets. Wednesday was spent checking toilet paper, installing shade, finishing the shoot house, placing benches and tables, ect. Thursday, Quickfire, Broken Nose Scotty, Lt. Col. Silver Creek Slim, Lt. Col. Ned Neiderlander, Col. Drydock Col. Sagebrush Burns, Dr. DeMentos, Hawkeye Hefner, Capt. Dan Blodgett, Whiskey Double, Lt. Col. Don Long and myself shot the main match stages to ensure that everything was set up correctly and so that we could RO the stages once the main match commenced.
Our mess consisted of 39 shooting participants excluding camp followers.
Also present were River City John and the Yuma City Kid acting as the sutlers.
Friday morning operations commenced with the Expansion Era Match side matches.
The Main match used the same skirmish format as the Expansion Era Match did. All of the stages this year commemorated the 120th anniversary of The Spanish-American War.
Saturday evening we retired to The Comstock Lodge for the banquet. The Ladies and the men seemed to quite enjoy the facilities. While there, door prizes were awarded. During the banquet a strong thunderstorm came up complete with heavy rain. This precluded most campers from returning to the camp site. Those unable to complete the trek up the hill slept in their vehicles, our camper and on our couches.
Sunday morning I totaled the scores and medals and certificates were awarded to the Ladies and the men. With the muddy trail to the camp site and the inability of wagons to traverse it, the awards ceremony was held in the yard of my quarters. Following the awards ceremony my staff and members of my Council of War met to evaluate the Muster and discuss possible improvements in equipment, logistics and execution.
Hawkeye Hefner received the Iron Trooper as the Brigade Champion.
The Stu Kettle Memorial Gun Shoot Thingy Award was won by Col. Drydock for having the lowest total time.
Nebraska Won the Division Plate award for the Grand Muster Division Challenge.
Here I should thank a number of people: The Broken Bow Lions Club for sponsoring the insurance; Lt. Col. Ned Neiderlander, his efforts building camp equipage, Targets and props. Col. Drydock, Cpl Broken Nose Scotty, Ned Niederlander, Quickfire, Silver Creek Slim and Micah, Sagebrush Burns, Dr. Dementos, Capt. Dan Blodgett, Hawkeye Hefner, Whiskey Double, and Lt. Col. Long all of whom arrived early for arriving early and helped set up and shot the match on Thursday so that they could RO the match for participants. Ira Scott and Hakeye Hefner for donating the use of a “Mule” for moving participants between the stages. And finally Capt. Delmonico.
Evaluation of the Muster is ongoing, but the consensus is that the format is optimal but improvements can and will yet be made.
I request that participants of this match place their report in this thread as well.
Scores will follow.